U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan appointed public defender A.J. Kramer as an advisory counsel to Butina without further explanation. The move came after Chutkan held a phone conference with Butina's defense lawyers, Robert Driscoll and Alfred Carry, and assistant U.S. attorneys Erik Kenreson and Thomas Saunders.

Butina has until Dec. 10 to argue why the transcript of the phone conference shouldn't be made public.

Chutkan scheduled a hearing Dec. 19 to get an update about the case. But on Wednesday, Chutkan scheduled the phone conference Thursday.

The U.S. attorney's office declined comment and defense lawyers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Chutkan earlier placed a gag order on both the federal prosecutors and the defense team that prevents them from speaking publicly about the case.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers had agreed Nov. 28 that "they remain optimistic about a pretrial resolution of this matter," meaning that a trial might not be necessary.

Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in Washington issued a statement Thursday calling for Butina's immediate release and calling the case a "blatant outrage."

The case against Butina was filed by the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and is unrelated to Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing inquiry into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Butina, who entered the U.S. in 2016 on a student visa, has been jailed as a flight risk without bond in Alexandria, Virginia, since her arrest in July. She has been held for months in solitary confinement, which keeps her in "a steel door cage the size of a parking space" for 22 hours each day, according to one of her court filings. She asked Chutkan to allow her into the jail's general population, but was rejected.

She is accused of infiltrating multiple political organizations, including the National Rifle Association, to gain influence for Russia.

In the original charging documents filed in July, prosecutors claimed that Butina worked at the direction of "a high-level official in the Russian government who was previously a member of the legislature of the Russian Federation and later became a top official at the Russian Central Bank."

The official, whose description matches Alexander Torshin, had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in April 2018 and is prohibited from traveling to the U.S.

The pair identified political organizations and politically connected individuals who they could "exploit," the indictment said. She has been active with the NRA in recent years and is credited for creating a Russian version of the gun-rights organization, which officials have pointed to as a way for her to gain contacts and supporters.

A March report issued by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee referred to the public reporting about Butina and Torshin, claiming that Butina "sought to facilitate meetings with Trump campaign officials and between President Putin and candidate Trump during the election."

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An undated handout picture made available by the Press Service of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation on chamber's official website shows 'The Right to Bear Weapons' Public Organization's Board Chairman Maria Butina posing with a gun in Moscow, Russia. PRESS SERVICE OF CIVIC CHAMBER OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION/HANDOUT VIA EPA-EFE

'The Right to Bear Weapons' Public Organization's Board Chairman Maria Butina speaking during the Organization's 2nd Congress in Moscow, Russia. PRESS SERVICE OF CIVIC CHAMBER OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION/HANDOUT VIA EPA-EFE

'The Right to Bear Weapons' Public Organization's Board Chairman Maria Butina speaking at the Organization's 1st Congress in Moscow, Russia. PRESS SERVICE OF CIVIC CHAMBER OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION VIA EPA-EFE

'The Right to Bear Weapons' Public Organization's Board Chairman Maria Butina attending a rally to demand expansion of citizens' rights in a Russian city in Russia. PRESS SERVICE OF CIVIC CHAMBER OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION VIA EPA-EFE

A courtroom sketch shows Maria Butina, a 29-year-old gun-rights activist suspected of being a covert Russian agent, listening to Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson as he speaks to Judge Deborah Robinson, left, during a hearing in federal court in Washington on July 18, 2018. Prosecutors say Butina was likely in contact with Kremlin operatives while living in the United States. DANA VERKOUTEREN, Dana Verkouteren via AP

An editor looks at the Twitter feed of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the U.S. with a post about the arrest of Russian woman Maria Butina in Hollywood, Calif. on July 16, 2018.
CHRIS DELMAS, AFP/Getty Images

A courtroom sketch shows Maria Butina, in orange suit listening to her attorney Robert Driscoll, standing, as he speaks to Judge Deborah Robinson, left, during a hearing in federal court in Washington on July 18, 2018. DANA VERKOUTEREN, Dana Verkouteren via AP

Court papers unsealed on July 16, 2018, photographed in Washington, shows part of the criminal complaint against Maria Butina. She was arrested July 15, 2018 , on a charge of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian government. JON ELSWICK, AP

The Right to Bear Weapons Public Organization's Board Chairman Maria Butina attends a discussion at the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation in Moscow on Feb. 24, 2014. Press Service of Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation via EPA-EFE